And, is he finally ready to admit to obstruction of justice in the cases of the Vitter whoremongering, or the Ensign staff-schtupping? No? Then, please, Sen. Coburn, proceed with that whole dying-in-a-fire thing.

The only person who matters in this whole debate is Mitch McConnell. Senate Minority Leader is the most important legislative position in the United States government. He alone commands the power to derail any deal that is not to his liking.

The GOP keeps trotting out the same three people saying they're OK with tax increases on the top 2%. They probably do it to give the illusion that they are willing to compromise and work with the President. In reality, republicans are just as obstructionistic as ever.

The GOP spent 4 years stopping any opposing legislation, passing only penis-goes-where-rape legislation, and attempting to trick the public into believing that Obama was the anti-christ. During this time they were out maneuvered and have no choice but to submit. This is what they deserve for embracing anti-intellectual tea baggers. It is also the best solution.

Shaggy_C:The only person who matters in this whole debate is Mitch McConnell. Senate Minority Leader is the most important legislative position in the United States government. He alone commands the power to derail any deal that is not to his liking.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

I used to think there was a such a thing as consistency or principles. Silly me.

I thought that the general notion was a balanced budget leads to greater confidence in the U.S. dollar which helps our entire economy grow. You have however, explained the Democrats slide to the right quite nicely though.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

Shaggy_C:The only person who matters in this whole debate is Mitch McConnell. Senate Minority Leader is the most important legislative position in the United States government. He alone commands the power to derail any deal that is not to his liking.

McConnell only has power if he has 39 other votes behind him. If he can't get the caucus to go along with something he wants, he'll switch sides to maintain the perception of a power and a unified front.

"The reality is there is a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate - and the only way you're going to start doing something to save Medicare, to save Social Security is to give them revenue," Coburn told POLITICO. "It's wrong, but that's the real world we live in."

Citrate1007:I thought that the general notion was a balanced budget leads to greater confidence in the U.S. dollar which helps our entire economy grow.

Hence my personal opinion, which is that the "fiscal cliff" isn't so much a "cliff" as a wake-up call. It's the last piece of the necessary economic adjustment this country has been putting off since the early 2000s. We blunted the impact of the .Com collapse with a combination of unnecessary tax cuts, stimulus spending in the form of unnecessary wars, and a mortgage bubble the likes of which we had never seen. We never felt the pain from the collapse in 2000 thanks to short-sighted policy decisions in the decade since aimed at keeping up growth without concern about whether that growth was organic or not.

Muta:The GOP keeps trotting out the same three people saying they're OK with tax increases on the top 2%. They probably do it to give the illusion that they are willing to compromise and work with the President. In reality, republicans are just as obstructionistic as ever.

Your newsletter - I hope the White House subscribes to it.

Getting the top 2% to toss in tip money while slashing an already miserly and threadbare safety is not a deal. Republicans desperately want Democrats to own both tax hikes and Medicare/Social Security cuts.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

The White House and Senate Democrats have the nuts of the collective GOP in a vice and are slowly cranking it down. It's only a matter of time before they crack completely and give the President whatever he wants. They sincerely have no leverage at all.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

I used to think there was a such a thing as consistency or principles. Silly me.

I'll believe your little diatribe if the President tries to ask for the tax cuts for people making $250k/yr permanent. I would expect that he will ask for a 2 year limit on the cuts, in the hope that by the time they expire, our economy would be in better shape and more people would be employed.

Last time I looked, the Republican party and the right wing noise machine are the only ones demanding that the tax cuts (only for the top 2%) be made permanent.

So, when after the first of the year, after the christmas sales reports come in and it shows the economy has improved like it will anyway (with GOP stalling) then they will somehow be able to take credit for "working" with the President. I guess Obama outsmarted them didn't he. Give them all the rope the want to hang themselves with. The tea partiers will go wild.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

TabASlotB:FTA: But the former three-term congressman is perhaps freer to speak his mind than most Republicans: A proponent of term limits, [Coburn] has pledged not to run for a third Senate term in 2016.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

keylock71:spif: RobertBruce: No, asshole. You save money by spending less of it.

Eventually it will get bad enough to do something legitimate about it - we are not quite there yet.

...and just look how well Austerity Economics has worked out for the English.

Either you force austerity on yourself, or it gets forced upon you. You can't fight basic math with good will.

Eventually our debt will reduce the options we have available - and this is not just a national problem, you only have to look at the trouble with unfunded liabilities and the municipal bond market to see that the problem is endemic to our society.

Watch what happens during the debt ceiling situation in the next few months. Another credit downgrade and the cost to finance debt will keep eating at the budget.

AurizenDarkstar:I'll believe your little diatribe if the President tries to ask for the tax cuts for people making $250k/yr permanent. I would expect that he will ask for a 2 year limit on the cuts, in the hope that by the time they expire, our economy would be in better shape and more people would be employed.

Why? He's stated multiple times the tax cut should be permanent dating back to the start of his re-election campaign. This isn't something that's up in the air, this is a clearly defined policy goal. I have no idea why; I'm personally of the opinion taxes should go up across the board.

I'm confused. Didn't we just spend the last 10 years talking about how higher taxes would lead to an economic boom like the Clinton years? I must be behind on my Internet LiberalTM Talking Points of the Week. It gets hard to keep up when our positions on the issue change constantly to match the Republican's position but only halfway.

I used to think there was a such a thing as consistency or principles. Silly me.

It's called context.

Yes, when they were against the tax cuts it was percieved that the tax cuts were only for the rich. When the dems finally came to the realization just as the cuts were to end that the tax cuts disproportionatly benefited "not the rich" they moved back from the tax cuts are bad.

Nah that ship has sailed if I'm Obama. Let's go off the cliff together. Probably the best thing for the country. I don't even listen to a proposal unless it hikes taxes on the rich, returns capital gains tax to 30%, AND includes reduced government spending to military amongst other cuts republicans want that aren't NPR PBS or Planned Parenthood.

Don't like it? Then f off and let the big boys fix the country. Republicans have absolutely zero leverage